Overview
- Description
- Consists of a police record and a marriage certificate used to establish a false identity.
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Judit Schichtanz
- Collection Creator
- Judit Schichtanz
- Biography
-
Judit Schichtanz (1935-2011) was born in Budapest, Hungary, to Lorand (b. 1900), and Ella Lichtig (1904-2005). Lorand, an architectural draftsman, and Ella, a piano teacher, married on June 18, 1931. They were assimilated Jews and had a Christmas tree every year for Judit. Ella also taught music at a convent. In 1941, in response to the anti-Semitic racial laws enacted in Hungary, she told the Mother Superior that she was Jewish. The nun suggested that Ella convert to Catholicism; she did and had Judit confirmed as well.
In March 1944, the country was occupied by Germany. Thousands of Jews were imprisoned or deported to concentration camps. In May, Judit’s father received an SAS (Storm Soldat) card in the mail drafting him into a forced labor battalion, and in November he was the Schützen am Gebirge forced labor camp in Austria. In June, Judit and her mother moved into her grandparent’s apartment in the Jewish section of the city. On October 9, Ella was told to report for forced labor. She managed to avoid registration but decided that she and Judit must go into hiding. She acquired false identity cards with the names Anna Szabo and Jozsef Ballo. The Mother Superior found a home where Ella could work as a maid and Judit as a babysitter, but it only lasted one month as that family decided to flee Hungary to escape the approaching Soviet Army. Another position was found, but this family suspected that Ella and Judit were Jewish because they knew one of the persons whose name was on the false documents. There was an argument, but when Ella produced photographs of Judit’s first communion, the family let them stay. Around Christmas in December 1944, Judit, her mother, and the family for which they worked moved to an underground bunker to escape the frequent Allied bombing raids. Judit and her mother remained below ground until the city was liberated by the Soviet Army on February 13, 1945.
In July 1945, Judit and her mother were visited by two young men who had a message from Judit’s father. Around April 1945, the labor camp in Austria had been evacuated and the inmates marched to Mauthausen, then Gunskirchen, where they were liberated on May 4 by the US Third Army, 71st Division. Lorand had watched his brother die of starvation during the march to Gunskirchen, and wanted only to be alone. He was not returning to his family in Budapest.
In 1956, Judit left Hungary to continue studying music at the Academy in Vienna. After graduating in 1960, she immigrated to the United States with the help of aunts and uncles who lived there.
Physical Details
- Language
- Hungarian
- Genre/Form
- Marriage certificates.
- Extent
-
1 folder
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Judit Schichtanz in 2001.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-10-13 14:30:29
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn509503
Download & Licensing
- In Copyright - Use Permitted
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
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-
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Also in Ella and Judit Schichtanz collection
The collection consists of artifacts and photographs relating to the experiences of Ella Schichtanz and her daughter, Judit, in Budapest, Hungary, before and during the Holocaust. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Date: 1931-1943
Tiara worn by a Jewish woman at her wedding in prewar Budapest
Object
Tiara worn by 27 year old Ella Lichtig at her marriage to Lorand Schichtanz on June 18, 1931, in Budapest, Hungary. In 1941, in response to recent anti-Semitic racial laws, Ella and her young daughter, Judit, converted to Catholicism. In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany. Lorand was drafted into a forced labor battalion and sent to Austria. In October, Ella was ordered to report for forced labor. She avoided registration and went into hiding with Judit. The Mother Superior from the convent where Ella taught music helped them find work as domestics under their false identities. On February 13, 1945, the city was liberated by the Soviet Army. That July, two young men arrived with a message from Lorand. He had survived the war but was not returning to his family or to Hungary.
Judit Schichtanz papers
Document
Collection of false documents which were issued to donor's mother, Lorandne Schichtanz, who used the alias Ballo Jozsefne (Szabo Anna) during the war in Hungary. Included is a false birth certificate. The donor and her mother survived the war by converting to Catholicism and then by using false papers hiding in Budapest, Hungary. Donor's mother taught piano in a convent.
Wedding veil worn by a Jewish woman in prewar Budapest
Object
Wedding veil worn by 27 year old Ella Lichtig at her marriage to Lorand Schichtanz on June 18, 1931, in Budapest, Hungary. In 1941, in response to recent anti-Semitic racial laws, Ella and her young daughter, Judit, converted to Catholicism. In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany. Lorand was drafted into a forced labor battalion and sent to Austria. In October, Ella was ordered to report for forced labor. She avoided registration and went into hiding with Judit. The Mother Superior from the convent where Ella taught music helped them find work as domestics under their false identities. On February 13, 1945, the city was liberated by the Soviet Army. That July, two young men arrived with a message from Lorand. He had survived the war but was not returning to his family or to Hungary.